


Life and Death Decisions

by Viridian5



Category: Twitch City
Genre: Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2000-07-03
Updated: 2000-07-03
Packaged: 2017-10-02 08:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridian5/pseuds/Viridian5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An emergency can bring friends closer together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life and Death Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> I lived through the tape incident myself. Wish I'd had an extra pair of hands around to help.... R said it was only a matter of time before it became a story, so this is R's fault. Really.

The sudden sound of tape unraveling felt like claws in Curtis' soul. "No. Oh no, you can't be--" In a panic, he hit Stop/Eject twice on his remote. With an ominous whirring, the VCR spat the videocassette only partially out, then turned itself off, filling the room with the harsh noise of static. "No way. No. Not this tape...."

Curtis sat in front of the machine and tried to get the videocassette out, moving it this way, that way, but it wouldn't budge. The VCR had its teeth firmly clamped into the tape and wouldn't let it go. "Damn you!" He turned the machine on, pushed the cassette back in, and pressed Eject, but it did no good. It didn't work the next three times he did it either.

"Hey, what's-- Oh, shit." Immediately figuring out the situation, Newbie put his box down and sat next to Curtis. "Have you tried--"

"Yes!"

"And--"

"Hell, yes. Of course I did!"

"Snap out of it! You need to be cool here."

"It's not your tape!"

"Exactly, and that's why you need me here. You're too upset to think."

"It's the classic original Cathy Lee Crosby _Wonder Woman_."

Newbie shook his head. "Don't tell me that; I can't let it become personal. If we get nervous, we'll fuck up. We need to be cool here. You cool?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. If you can't get the tape loose, you have a choice here: take the VCR apart or cut the tape loose." Newbie started to hum the _Jeopardy_ theme song.

"Stop that; I need to think." Curtis took a deep breath. Classic _Wonder Woman_ versus a more expensive VCR. One tape versus something that provided multiple tape enjoyment. The VCR had betrayed him, but he could work on that, clean the heads. But the tape was irreplaceable.... Today's _Rex Reilly_, "Life and Death Decisions," should have prepared him for this, but in so many ways you never did know what you'd do when tragedy struck. "We'll snip the tape and splice it. It's probably already crimped anyway." But it hurt....

"Okay. You have the gear?"

"Latex gloves and a pair of goggles are in the linen closet. Splicing tape's in the cupboard near the refrigerator. Get the scissors with the red handle because they're sharper; they'll cut cleaner."

"What about a kit of small screwdrivers?"

"That shouldn't be necessary."

"Better to be prepared."

"Fine. That's in the linen closet too."

Curtis tried to get the tape loose the whole time Newbie hunted down their tools but it didn't budge. "How could you do this to me?" he whispered. He put the goggles and gloves on as soon as Newbie put the pile of stuff down at his feet, then positioned the scissors.

Newbie had another pair of gloves on. "It's okay, man. Make the cut."

"I will. I just need a moment."

"Sure."

Curtis took a deep breath, then cut. It made only the smallest sound, but it still hurt. He gently teased the tape free of the VCR's spindles. It looked badly crimped, but at least the cut was straight and clean, no jagged edges. His aim had been true.

Then the shortest cut end got sucked right into the cassette shell where he couldn't get at it.

"Nice girly scream, Curtis."

"Look at that! You jinxed us by asking about the screwdrivers!"

"Did not!"

"Oh, sure. Give me one of the small phillipsheads. No, a smaller one. Okay, that's good. Where are you going?"

"Getting a cup for the screws."

Curtis started the head cleaner on the VCR. They might as well get two things done at the same time. "You do that. But I'll need another pair of hands to make this work."

Curtis needed to take four of the five screws out to get the tape end back through the slot. He gingerly pulled a long streamer of tape out to make sure he didn't lose it again. As Newbie held the cassette shell still and together on the table, Curtis carefully but easily put the screws back in, happy that the holes still matched so perfectly.

"Maybe we could press the tape straighter with a folded piece of paper. Less handling, fewer fingerprints, that way," Newbie said.

"That could work."

Curtis pressed the crimps down as much as possible and taped the ends together. Newbie held the cassette steady and pressed a pen into the hole to let Curtis manually rewind the tape. "Moment of truth time. You'll check--"

"--to make sure the crimped part doesn't run through the machine. Yeah, I know my stuff." Newbie gingerly put it in and curled up on the floor near the VCR.

"Okay, let's run it." Curtis settled on the couch, took off his gloves, and hit Play. "It's working.... Picture quality's pretty good."

"This section has some distance from the damaged part."

"Looks good, looks good.... No chomping noises from the machine."

"Try ejecting it now." Newbie looked at the tape. "We're still good. We can try running it a little longer." He put it back in and made circular "run it, run it" motions with his hands.

"Still looks good."

"Eject it," Newbie said again after five minutes of play. He examined it carefully. "Okay, we're close to the crimping here. Probably be safer not to play it any further."

Curtis settled in front of the VCR next to Newbie, took out the cassette and carefully set it aside, then grinned. "I only lost a few minutes at the end of the last episode. It's alive!"

Newbie took his latex gloves off. "Cool. It could have been much worse."

"Definitely."

Newbie had this bored look on his face, yet he also beamed with accomplishment from their victory over the odds, almost glowing with it, despite himself. Curtis felt the same, so he wondered if Newbie felt an identical little surge of lust too. Newbie's lips curved into a small smile, and they looked really red. Lush.

"You have lip gloss on? Chapstick?" Curtis asked. They looked like they should taste like cherry.

"What?"

"Your lips."

Newbie shook his head. "You always do this, like it surprises you every time that my lips look like this. They always look like this."

"I forget that. I have more important things on my mind than your lips. They're so weird that my mind blanks out what they look like when you're not here in front of me showing them off."

"I'm flaunting my lips?" Newbie's expression started to turn wicked. They'd done this before during Curtis' other moments of fascination with his lips....

"Maybe."

Newbie licked them, knowing full well what kind of signal he was giving off.

Curtis leaned in to him and kissed him, tasting candy. Newbie returned it open-mouthed, smiling, as his hands wandered under Curtis' T-shirt. "Y'know, you still have your goggles on," Newbie murmured, his usually soft and husky voice sounding softer and huskier as he rocked against Curtis. "'Sokay; I like 'em. Your pants are still too tight, though...."

"_You're_ insulting my fashion sense."

"What fashion sense? Hey! That hurt."

Curtis rubbed his face against Newbie's badly bleached but apple scented hair. "You like getting your ear nipped, and you know it."

"Some people would just say, 'Thanks for the help.' Freak."

"Are you complaining?"

"No, just making a statement of fact. And we are not doing it on the floor."

"No?" Curtis leaned in closer, rocked harder against Newbie, and sucked at that spot on his neck that made him crazy.

Newbie closed his eyes, sighed, and clutched at Curtis. "Ohhh, okay."

Curtis smiled. It paid off having other people around. Especially if they were helpful and talented with their hands.

### End


End file.
